


Into the Woods

by MYuzuki



Series: NRPS Autumn Spookfest 2019 [3]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/F, Fantasy AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-04
Updated: 2019-10-04
Packaged: 2020-11-23 03:35:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20885474
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: Mikoto has heard the stories all her life, has listened to the clan elders time and time again warn the younger children about venturing too deep in the forest. There is danger in there, they whisper. Monsters wearing human faces, to trick you into trusting them, and perhaps Mikoto is too reckless for a militia guard but when she catches a glimpse of a woman in the woods, with hair like fire and a fox-sly smile, the only thought in her head is, she’s beautiful.(Written for the Autumn Spook Fest 2019 event hosted by @naruto-rare-pair-support, for the prompt Into the Woods.)





	Into the Woods

**INTO THE WOODS**

* * *

The evening is mild, a calm summer night with a hint of autumn in the crisp breeze that's teasing Mikoto's hair from her braid. Everything is calm in the little village she calls home, to the point that she's feeling rather purposeless in her position in the village militia.

She's hardly going to tell the village elders that, though; the last time she'd voiced such thoughts, they'd spent three hours chastising her for her supposed carelessness. _There are dangerous things in the forest_, old Sayuri had said, her wrinkled face gravely serious. _Spirits and tricksters and forgotten gods._

Mikoto had nodded obediently while internally sighing in frustration. The little village founded by her family has existed on the fringes of the ancient forest for generations beyond counting, and still everyone maintains a considerable level of wariness and superstition about the creaking, shadowed woods.

Her mother had told her stories, growing up. She'd brush out Mikoto's hair for her before bed, and whisper to her about the legends of the forest. _They like the pretty ones_, she had said once, _and the bright ones_._ The ones with strong hearts and fearless souls._ She'd told stories about how some of their ancestors had been lured away into the woods, vanishing without a trace.

She'd talked of Kagami, with his easy laugh and warm heart, who'd disappeared after an encounter with a pale figure by the forest's river, and of Hikaku who'd chased after a woman he'd seen dancing under the light of a full moon.

Even the two brothers who'd first founded their village had fallen prey to the forest, Mikoto's mother had told her, lured away by the powerful and mysterious denizens that call the forest home.

But Mikoto's been living in this village her entire life, and not once in her twenty-four years of existence has she ever seen anything that couldn't be explained rationally.

At least, not until now.

Because as she walks the border of her village, bored as she always is on calm nights like tonight, she finally sees something.

Or rather, she sees some_one_.

Perched high in the birch tree that stands on the edge of the forest, her eyes glow an eerie purple in the dim evening light, her hair like fire as it shifts in the night wind. "Hello down there," the woman calls to Mikoto, her voice light and friendly with something mischievous underneath. "A lovely evening, isn't it?"

The smart thing to do, the _logical_ thing to do, would be to raise the alarm. To alert the village to the potential danger that this woman poses.

And yet Mikoto finds herself very much not doing that. Instead, she lets her fingers rest lightly on the hilt of the sword on her hip and walks over to the base of tree. "A nice enough night," she agrees. "Bit boring, though," she adds, because it's the truth. Until this very moment, this night had been like every other night in Mikoto's life: completely average.

(Mikoto's never really been a fan of average, always too fierce and too opinionated for the daughter of a blacksmith and a woodcutter.)

The woman's smile widens into a grin, sly and playful all at once. "I might be able to help with that," she offers, hopping down from the tall tree in a controlled fall and landing beside Mikoto in a quick fluid motion that clearly screams _not-human_ in a way that should terrify her, but instead just sends a thrill of excitement tingling down her spine, a strange feeling rising in her stomach as she looks at the other woman. "If you come with me," the red-head says, holding out a hand, "I can promise that you'll never be bored again."

Mikoto looks at her, at her perfect body and inviting grin, at the way her hair turns to liquid fire under the light of the moon, at the way her shadow doesn't quite match the form she's wearing now, and feels something flutter in her chest.

_Oh_, she thinks, and wonders if this is what all the others before her felt as well.

She eyes that outstretched hand as her heart pounds in her chest; she's only a little surprised to realize that it's excitement and anticipation rather than fear that has her heart beating double-time, and has to swallow hard as she looks up and meets that piercing purple gaze.

"That's a big promise to make," she says now, already reaching out to take that slender hand in hers. "I'm not won over easily, you know," she adds, almost like a warning. And it's true; Fugaku the butcher's son has been trying to court her for the last decade at least, and she's rebuffed him at every turn.

The woman with the fox-smile laughs, the sound bright and wild. "I certainly hope not," she replies, twining her fingers with Mikoto's as she takes a step backwards, towards the heart of the forest. "That would take all the fun out of it!" Then she tugs Mikoto close, pressing a kiss to her lips that tastes like fire and starlight.

Mikoto kisses back, and finds herself completely breathless once they break apart. "That's-" She pants for breath, trying to steady herself. "That's not a bad start," she remarks at last, flashing a smile that's almost a dare. "Although it _was_ awfully forward," she tags on archly. "I don't even know your name yet."

The earns her another laugh, light and amused. "It's Kushina," the other woman says. "Now, let's go." She pulls Mikoto deeper into the forest, practically radiating excitement. "I can't wait to introduce you to the others; they're going to love you."

Mikoto allows herself to pulled deeper and deeper into the woods, and doesn't regret it at all.


End file.
